On This Trail of Dust That We Walk
by TheRangerBoy
Summary: Asriel and Chara go out and collect human souls to break the barrier, but die. Gaster falls into the Core for unknown reasons. These events transpire slightly differently, and with a bit of Determination... Can they survive on this new trail of dust that they walk?
1. Chapter 1

"So you think this'll work?" Asriel asked as he passed through the barrier.

Asriel and Chara had been plotting this for several months. First, Chara had to slowly poison herself with buttercups. This was, surprisingly, the easiest part of their plan. It involved introducing a leaf or two into her water every few days, and slowly increasing the dosage. This allowed her to gain a resistance to the toxic flower. They would then lay off it once she had grown tolerant to it. Once her body had recovered, they would give her a massive dose. This would put her on the brink of death, but not quite there thanks to the previous doses.

Then, Phase 2 would begin. This consisted of Asriel's job. He, while she was close to death, would snatch her soul and use it to get across the barrier. They would then go to the nearby village, according to Chara's directions. They would then use the poor excuses for humanity to charge and destroy the barrier. The plan seemed sound to Asriel. Asriel was itching to get revenge for all of the pain that Chara had to endure.

'Of course dipshit. I wouldn't poison myself for any damm pointless reason.' Chara said tersely

Ah, Asriel hadn't thought of that… still…

"I guess…" He replied unsurely as he purposely ignored the colorful manner in which Chara spoke

'Ya might want to stop talking to me out loud. When ya do, It comes echo-y.' Chara chided in a kinder tone, sensing his unease

See she did have a heart.

'Oh! Right. Sorry…' Asriel mentally spoke as he shoved some shrubbery away

They then fell into a comfortable silence as Asriel made his way through the forest. He would occasionally get off course, but was quickly corrected by Chara. He thought of many things, as he stared at the blue sky. He wondered when the stars would show. They made significant progress short hour that they walked. According to Chara, they were only an hour or two from said village. It was at this time that Asriel felt the slight sting of worry. What if they died? Surely with the power of a human soul, he would easily outmatch them…

'You're worried.' Chara stated matter of factly

'Of course I am! I'm going to be… killing… I don't know if I can handle this…' Asriel said in short quick gasps

Asriel's hands shook as he stopped and took a short rest on a nearby rock. His breath fell short as he shakily sat down. Now wasn't the time to be chickening out! He quickly smacked his cheeks, turning them red through the fur.

'WHAT?! You're telling me you can't do this,' Chara yelled before her tone rang again, but softer, 'I… I'm sorry for putting this kind of pressure. Just take a rest and get your bearings. Then you'll be fine.'

'O… okay. Thanks, I understand this must not be easy for you either. I just need a moment. You know me. Mr. Can't Do Shit.' Asriel said a loud smack boomed along the small area they occupied

'Did… you just cuss?' Chara asked barely containing a squeal of delight

"NOPE! DEFINITLY DIDN'T!" Asriel practically screamed as he straightened his posture

'I think you did~' Chara teased as she chuckled

'…Shut up.'

'Ooooh, one cuss word and we're badass I see.' Chara further teased

'I don't shink I'm badrass…' Asriel muttered out to cover the second slip in under a minute

'Okay big boy, no need to get all hurt. I was just teasing'

'Mmmmkay…' Asriel mumbled out of embarrassment as his cheeks flushed a deep crimson

'Good. I know I'm not… ya know, the kindest?' She explained, unsure of how to word it 'but I'll try to be a bit better.'

Asriel almost gasped in shock. Chara seemed to be coming out of her little shell. It made him happy to see Chara warming up a bit more to the family. His heart warmed as he sat up from the rock, filled with Determination. He shifted his cloak in such a way that it didn't encumber him. As he cut his way through the nearby bushes, he felt the soft glow of gratitude fill Chara's soul. He felt his chest heat up as he couldn't stop the grin that had persuaded its way upon his lips. They were going to be fine!

'Soo… any dreams about what you want to do when we free the monsters?'

The question caught him off guard, but he replied as quickly as he could think of one… which happened to occupy a whole two seconds.

'I don't know. I guess I could rule like Dad?'

'You got to have some dream. You're a Dreemurr after all.'

'Don't you start with those dang puns again… no one likes them, but you and Sans.'

'They are the pinnacle of funny.' Chara defended in an upright manner

'…'

'What? Is it something I said?'

'You actually used a three syllable word…'

'Hey! Just because I don't use my vocabulary doesn't mean I don't have one…' Chara pouted

They both laughed at that, and thus they continued on their trip to the village.

Kiore Village was a peaceful village on the surface. The farmer farmed, the baker baked, and the merchant sold. It looked quaint and not queer in any manner. Today was a unique day out of the year. It was Offering Day. See, once a year the townsfolk would offer up one major possession on this day to support the Church that was in the center of town. While most just offered simple items like hay or salted meats, there were some in the village that were forced to more extreme measures. While the truth is available to any outsider, it was not so apparent to the townsfolk.

The simple people were being threatened into this by fear of monsters and demons. So, should anyone resist Offering Day, the church would claim them possessed. In this era, people tended to not be open minded as they should, this lead to the burnings. Once every year or two there would be a lone protester but try as they might, they never escaped the burning. This continued until a lone orphan with nothing left to lose chose to defy the church.

Said orphan was a small girl only 6 or 7 at the time of her resistance. She tried and tried to convince the town that there was no demons, only to have her words thrown back at her face with names like 'devil-spawn' and 'devil-worshiper'. She continued until the Day of Offerings, only to be met with smiles. She thought her dreams came true until the church came knocking, in a metaphorical sense.

They pulled her off the street, and chained her up in a cage. The cage was cold and supported by strong iron bars. It felt no different physically to the street outdoors, but it was in many ways worse. It held a sense of dread and a weight held onto the air, as if it could at any moment rip it out of her lungs.

She knew this was her end. She was going to die like all the others…

At the stake.

 ** _Days Later…_**

The girl felt her stomach rumble. She was hungry sure, the real problem was thirst. Her lips were cracked and bleeding, her throat like sandpaper, and her mind throbbing. Her eyes were bloodshot from sleepless nights. She cringed at the awareness in her mind. She just wished that they'd kill her and end this suffering.

She was surprised to hear a faint jingle of keys and slow clack as one of the Clerics approached the door to her cage. She would have jumped for the door if she had the energy, but opted for simply raising her head. The Cleric approached her and softly whispered.

"While I am of the church, I frown upon the killing of such so young. I will give an option to escape, but your only chance is also the most risky. Can you save yourself?"

Unable to speak, she just nodded… barely.

"Okay, they will approach you in an hour. When they take you to the stake, there will be a bucket on a shelf along the way. Crash into it. That is all I can say."

He handed her a small plate with just enough food to get her going. It had a mug containing water on the side. She just looked at him with shock.

"The potatoes are the key to a balanced meal." He simply stated as he rushed out of the cell

Chara barely saw the tails of his cloak exit the room before she tore into the food, leaving the potatoes for last. Once she finished the meal, with the exception of the potatoes, she put the potatoes, which were baked, in her hand and tore into the first one. She finished it like normal, but the second was a bit different. Halfway through, she hit something hard and muffled out a cry as she bit into a hard metal thing. She decided to stick it in the side of her mouth as she felt for what it was… it felt almost like a… key?

What was she supposed to do with tha- ooooh. The key was for her shackles, but after trying to unlock the ones tying her to the floor, she realized that it wasn't for her current shackles. Then it had to be for when they changed them… during the walk to the fire pit….

"Shit."

It was the first cuss word she'd said in her whole life, and definitely not the last.

 ** _One Hour Later…_**

Chara, after eating had decided to hide the key in her mouth. It was the best place she could think of. She briefly considered where she would run. There wasn't much in the way for her to go. Sure there was the forest, but that was crawling with wolves… There was always the desert, but that stretched for miles, so she'd probably die from lack of water. That left the last option: Mt. Ebott…

She mentally cursed.

Ebott was known for a myth about monsters. That wasn't something she wanted to deal with, but she'd rather face myth than reality.

It was at this time that she heard the door to her cell click, and open. She looked up to see a town guard in the grim. His face, though young, showed deep sadness and regret.

"It's time."

'You okay Chara? You've been really quiet.'

 _'_ _It's fine, just going over some memories…'_

'Okay…' Asriel replied hesitantly

Silence reigned over the two for a few seconds before Chara spoke again.

 _'_ _What do you think will happen once we break the barrier?'_

'We'll live on the surface of course. We can stay up every night to look at the stars, and we can also see the sunsets. I've always wanted to see one…'

 _'_ _I hope that happens too Az.'_

'Az?'

 _'_ _It was kinda a spur of the moment thing. I'll stop if y-'_

'I like it.' He said simply

 _'_ _Oh.'_

With that, they fell into another comfortable silence, each of their minds filled with Hopes and Dreams for the future.

There Chara was, walking through the halls of the church. Her… escort… was dragging her along. It wasn't soon until they passed the side dorms for the priests. Chara slowly brought her head up to see the man from before. Due to the length of the hall, his footsteps came into hearing distance after the guards got sight of him. The guards ignored him and brought Chara forward at an increased pace. This continued until the man finally approached the guards, bucket in hand. Chara got a short glance in it before the man crashed into the group, bucket going flying.

"AH, you damned priest! Watch where you're going!" The guard Chastised angrily

"I'm sorry sir, I've been carrying Monster dust. I am nearing the end of my shift, so I must've dosed. I severely apologize."

"You better. We store these traitors to the church; the least we demand is some respect."

What the Guards did not notice was that a good bit of the Grey dust had found a home into her clothes. She nearly gaged at the smell. It didn't help that she was basically wearing several dead monsters…

She briefly blocked her nose as best she could.

'Why would he throw the stuff on me?' She asked herself, thinking a moment

She gave up on that thought as she felt her arms being dragged harshly forward. The whole trip to the stake was hastened even further as she played with the key in her mouth carefully enough not to clack it against her teeth. They finally made it out of the enclosure and into a small courtyard. It seemed as though it would be a peaceful place if it weren't for the dozens of large, black, ashy circles that littered it. Dividing her attention, she took in her surroundings. She made sure to take in anything that could be of use to escape. She found a small hole in the wall that seemed to be barely big enough for her, and decided that was the best option as of yet.

Now, she had to find survive the burning.

She contemplated the importance of the dust that was now ground into her clothes. Sure, they probably had some magical properties… but that wasn't going to help her here. Monsters generally weren't fireproof. So, what was the point? After a few seconds of thought, she could swear hearing that Fire based monsters like Torch Nymphs, or Phoenix. They were constantly on fire so they had to be fireproof… right? Even if they were, does that carry to their dust?

She didn't know, and that worried her.

 ** _In Mt. Ebot, Hot lands, Core_**

"you sure this'll work?" A younger, but much more mature Sans asked

"It has to. We cannot fail." Dr. W.D. Gaster answered steadily

"that's a comforting thought." Sans mumbled out

"It is not supposed to be comforting. If the Core fails, we lose all of monster kind with it."

"i know that, i just got a bad feeling about this."

"Scientists don't rely on _feelings_. We use evidence." Gaster responded with distaste

"you didn't make me as a scientist, i'm supposed to judge those deemed evil. having blue magic would be pointless otherwise."

"I know I taught you better than that!"

"yeah i know… i'm supposed to not be some stupid brute in order to judge correctly."

"Quite correct my dear Sans."

They walked quietly through the various catwalks that littered the maintenance levels of the core. Sans frequently glanced around, developing a sense of Déjà vu. It was as if he had done this thousands of times before. He ignored it as he kept following. It was probably just a side effect of his blue magic. Making an artificial human soul, though significantly weaker, was bound to have side effects.

"so, what exactly are we doing here, and don't give me that 'saving monster kind shit'." Sans asked as he cracked his neck, producing annoyingly loud pops

"As you should already know, I built the core for two reasons. Do you remember which?"

"yeah, i do. first to filter all the magic that monsters breath out, and second to turn that magic into free usable energy for the underground."

"But… did you know that there is a third?"

"what have you been keeping from me gramps?" Sans asked scrunching his eye sockets together

Gaster walked a few more feet, and glanced at Sans, piercing blue and orange dots that made for eyes seemingly staring through him. Gaster blinked before turning to a nearby console, and typing on it. Gaster's hands flew across the keys as text, and menus danced across the screen. This all was finished by a dramatic stroke over the ENTER key.

For a few seconds nothing happened. Sans was about to ask as to what was going on, but was stopped in his tracks by an hydraulic hiss from the wall.

"This is what I've been hiding." Gaster gestured to a corridor that opened up to a small control room with a few computers lying around

The room was obviously very makeshift. Wires were everywhere; some were even hanging from the roof. As Sans entered, he noticed control cabinets lined with thousands of blinking buttons to his sides and a small desk with a chalk board lined up in the corner. The desk was crowded with seemingly thousands of sheets of paper. The chalk board was similarly crowded with equations.

Though, this was nothing compared to the center stage. A large crystalline structure was displayed, it's pinkish red color seemingly drawing Sans' soul in. The structure was surrounded in many rings and was apparently hooked up into the core, as the wires hanging from it suggested. Sans had only one question:

"what's all this for?" Sans asked in awe

"Determination." Gaster spoke, "It's for determination."

Gaster walked into the room and typed in a console, as several screens flashed warnings. Gaster seemingly ignored them.

"I built this to produce determination, 1 unit a day to be exact." Gaster continued, "As both of us know, the average human soul contains 125 units, and the average monster soul contains 5 units. You Sans, contain 85 units. I contain 7 units."

"you're trying to break the barrier?" Sans asked

"No, this generator would take too long to be of any use. I have different plans."

"then how are we going to get the determination to break the barrier?"

"Asgore's plan is a sound one. We'd collect determination faster with his plan. This machine is to help that plan along."

"by doing what?"

"We shall give you a soul stronger than that of a human."

"we can't, i'm already nearly bursting with determination."

"I know. That is why I have chosen to work around your limitations."

"how?"

"You have taken a liking to my blasters have you? I have mad something of similar design that you may enjoy."

"this isn't funny. tell me what's going on!" Sans yelled angrily

"Fine. I have a… suit. It is easily capable of outmatching 20 humans. It just needs the determination to fuel it and an… _intelligence_ to run the systems. Sadly, I can't finish it."

"then why are you even telling me about it?" Sans asked tersely

"Because, I still want to finish it. There is a way to do so, but my body shall die. It shall be stored in the void along with the many monster souls used to store the determination."

"the void?! are you crazy? you know that souls never escape there!"

"I know it must seem crazy, but you can attempt to convince me otherwise once I finish getting myself ready. I know that the king will not be able to kill the humans. That is what the suit is for."

"you want me to kill any human that the king cannot?"

"You are the judge of that." Gaster said solemnly

Asriel reached the clearing that Chara had described to him. It was rocky Cliffside clearing that served to overlook the husk of the formerly bright town of Kiore (Kee-ore). It was now clouded in the black smoke of the frequent burnings that occurred there. The air was now filled with a stench of feces and burning flesh, which made Asriel gag.

'Chara… is that where you used to live?' Asriel asked in disbelief

 _'_ _Yeah, same shitty smell… literally…'_

'How could you even sand being within a mile of this place?'

 _'_ _Didn't have much of a choice.'_ Chara said over the link, giving Asriel the impression that she was shrugging

"This place is an abomination."

 _'_ _Look who's using the big words now.'_ Chara commented sarcastically

'Don't ruin my hero moment now!'

 _'_ _Fiiiiiiine…'_

'Let's get those souls and free monster kind!'

 _'_ _Alright Az.'_

 _A/N:_ That is the first chapter of On This Trail of Dust That We Walk. Wow, that's a mouthful. I also would like to let you guys know that the bits with Chara in Kiore Village are flashbacks to her time in there and a bit of setup for what's going to happen there.

I'd also like to let y'all know that Asriel and Chara will be surviving their attack, but will not be breaking the barrier. This Story will mostly focus on Asriel as he matures and develops with the guilt *SPOILERS* Killing Chara's body indirectly. This Asriel will eventually return to the underground where I plan for the story to actually pick up.

I am also posting concept art for some characters as they will appear after *SPOILERS* Asriel's return to the underground. (T. O. D. = Trail of Dust)

Well, see ya next time,

Peace.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N

Ooo boy this one was annoying to write.

Enjoy!

Smoke blew through the air.

Ash permeated his every pour.

Asriel fell to his knees, his magic extinguishing itself out of exhaustion. He heaved in and out with hoarse breaths. His lungs felt as if they were on fire. He was drenched in sweat and barely holding his lunch down. His arms felt as if they were made of Moldsmal flesh.

Is this what being a hero was like?

He fell silent, as did Chara. He had taken out these evil people, but didn't feel the joy of defeating the villain. He only felt a hollow shock that seemed to even fill the air as surveyed his surroundings. It was terrifying.

' _As- Asriel?'_ Chara asked through their connection

…

…

…

 **Nobody came.**

Chara sighed over the connection in frustration. This wasn't haw this was supposed to go. Not at all. She knew that it would have a serious effect on him to go through this, but she didn't expect him to go full psycho. It was almost terrifying, but she had managed to keep her composure… _barely_.

It wasn't until she performed a CHECK on him that she grew worried.

 **HP: 20/19000000**

 **ATK: -1**

 **DEF: -1**

 **STAMINA: 1%**

 **WILL: 0**

 ***In shock**

 ***Wants to be a hero**

Stamina? Will? She'd never heard of those before. It never showed up in any previous CHECK she had done on a monster. She could easily guess what stamina was, but what's with will?

' _Never mind that. What's with his stats? What is going on inside his head?'_

*Crunch*

She wipped her etherial head around as she looked for the source of the noise. Asriel had almost no HP, so she could take no chances. She glanced back and forth, her scarlet eyes scanning every detail of her surroundings.

In her search, she go a good view of the carnage that Asriel had brought. It unnerved her, but she made sure to hide it. She didn't need to worry Asriel any further.

*SNAP*

Her eyes darted again, searching...

In the small detials, she caught movement. It was minimal but there.

 _'Az, we've got company!' she shouted back to him_

She got no response.

She watched in horror as a figure arose from the burnt wood and ashes. A Knight if she were to figure from his armor. It was a broken mess. His armor was scorched and dented, even missing parts in some places. A good example would be the right pauldron, which she was drawn to due to the massive 3 foot long shard of wood stuck in where it should be. That of course was just a formality as his arm looked as if it were hanging by a single tendon.

Can ghosts throw up?

Chara thought she might be able to.

He should die right?

Chara's eyes stailed the knight as he reached for his sword, the broken and bent mess that it was still covered in his blood. It also terrified her.

Yep.

That's terror.

 _'ASRIEL, You REALLY Need To Turn around!'_

'If I die, I deserve it.' Asriel mumbled out

 _'What... Az you don-'_

*SHING*

The man was no more than 5 feet away.

 _'Asriel... please. What would Mom, or even Dad think? Do you want to hurt them?'_

4 feet away.

'They'd hate me.'

3 feet away

 _'What about me?'_

He was swinging.

Her eyes widened in terror as the stub of a sword sliced towards Asriel, cutting a clean arc.

Dust blew as Asriel's arm turned, seperated from his body, turned to dust.

Then the pain hit.

Chara felt a blinding hot pain and droped to the ground, attempting to grab her etherial arm in a vain attemt to stem the pain. It was no use. There was nothing she could do. They were going to die.

Freeing monster kind was was useless.

The man raised his blade again, this time over Asriel's soul.

*Vrhuuum*

She blinked.

What?

She looked at the man, and oh she wished she hadn't.

Half of his chest was gone, apparently destroyed in what ever took the knight. She looked as he toppled over, sword producing a resounding clang against the dirt under them. He fell on top of Asriel, leaking crimson over her brother and staining his white fur.

She heard footsteps before tiredness took over and she passed out.

1 Hour Earlier...

'Let's get those souls and save monster kind!'

 _'Alright Az'_

...

Asriel didn't move.

 _'Tell me that after your speach, you didn't lock up.'_

'No... how do we even get in? I... we didn't really plan this far..."

 _'Huh, I guess your right...'_

'So, any ideas?'

Chara shuffled around in the air as looked down.

 _'Over to the southern wall. There should be a large crack. I... left through there.'_

 **Flashback**

As she entered the courtyard, there was an instant stench. To Chara, it smelled like a mixture of oil, achohol, and saltpeter. It smelled like death. She held he head high, glancing at the crowd that had gathered for her burning. It was ironic really. She saw familair faces, friends, cousins, even an aunt. What made it ironic as their reactions.

They all had a similar expression.

Disgust.

They were stuck in this lie, so Chara figured that they would see her as something of such... pungence.

She filled their skin and made them doubt. Humans alway hate being out of the know. It was a simple fact. When you force it down their throats, they're bound to react badly. It explained the looks she was getting, but it didn't make her feel any better.

She traveled up the pile of sticks.

This was meant to be her castle, her true home.

...

This is where she was destined to be from birth.

Thrown away and useless.

They grabbed the oil, pale yellow liquid sloshing in the vase. They made their meandering crawl to the pile of wood, the guards seperating in path for the preist.

It was torturous.

Seeing those bastards flaunting their status and their control over the masses. It was deplorable in the highest sense. It was then that the preist spoke up:

"This is your last chance. If you repent, these fires will cleanse your soul and allow you admittance to the Holiest High. You will not experience pain, or sin...

Do you accept?"

Chara looked blankly at the preist for a moment.

"Really?" She asked

"Yes, you wi-" he said before he was cut off

"FAT CHANCE. You bastards have taken everything from me. I don't give two flying shits about your _afterlife_. Instead of even offering me my life, you offer me this bullshit! I would kindly decline, but then I wouldn't be able to say this!

 **Go.**

 **Fuck.**

 **Yourself.** "

"We wish mercy upon your soul." was the final reply

And so the torch was lit.

Alex awoke from his sleep.

It wasn't a peaceful sleep, but it did the job.

He looked up at the sun, seeing it just about a quarter into the sky. He frowned. He'd slept in. Well shit. He was planning on getting a early start on the day.

"Oh well you win some, you lose some. Ain't that how it goes Shadowmere?" He said, turning to his horse

Shadowmere neghed and cloped a foot. It was, from Alex's personal experience its way of saying _Sure it is. You're just trying to excuse your laziness._

Alex thought for a moment.

He was kinda getting lazy.

"Must be my aging brain. I just don't have the energy to keep that attitude that I had when I was younger." He mumbled

Might be a good idea to at least make up for lost time.

He packed up his bedroll and strapped it to the black stallion. He then clipped in the remaining restraints before putting his left foot through the sturrup. He swung his right leg over the horse and situated himself into the saddle. He flicked the reigns, setting Shadowmere to move foreward.

It was only then that he looked over the horizon.

He saw a massive plume of grey smoke that seemed to stretch across the horizon. He glanced at the sun again, using it as a compass.

"Of course that's where I have to go. Well... in for a challenge old friend?"

Shadowmere neighed, cloping his hoof again.

"I'll take that as a yes..."

With a 'YAH', Alex snapped the reigns putting Shadowmere into a quick gallop.

(During Attack on Kiore)

'This wall?'

 _'Yeah, that's it. You should fit decently fine.'_

'It's kinda small...'

 _'I know. If you have to, you can widen it a bit, but be quiet.'_

'Why?'

 _'You may have my soul, but it doesn't make us invincible.'_

'Oh... Sorry.'

 _'There's nothing to be sorry about. That's why I'm here.'_

'Thanks sis.' He said with a smile

Asriel looked at the wall with a frown.

It was going to be a tight fit to say the least, but eh... at least he'd get in quietly. Asriel began the long and tedious process of slipping his way through the crack. First he slipped his arm. Then, he scootched inch by inch to get his now 8 foot form through this crack.

He sighed at the hilarity of it.

Once on the other side, he dusted himself off with a few pats.

'Where to next?' He said chipperly

 _'There should be a church yard to the right. No one visits the Church yard, so you should be fine.'_

'So, what exactly did these guys do... besides the obvious that is...' Asriel asked through the scent of ashes and fecies

 _'The Church is the one to blame. They showed up.'_

'They just showed up and did this?' Asriel asked, gesturing to the town as a whole

 _'It took tome of couse. They were nice at first. They fed the homeless... cared for the elderly... the such. Then when the monster war broke out, they... I- Can we talk about something else?'_

'I guess that's fair. Did you see that homework that we had? I can't believe she'd give us 80 problems on spring break...'

 _'I finished mine, you shouldn't have too much of a problem.'_

'You know Math has never been my specialty...'

 _'How about this? I'll help you with it when we get back. How about that?'_

'Awesome! Thanks Chara!'

 _'No proble- We're here.'_ Chara cut her self off

Asriel looked up seeing a massive tower a good 50 ft high. It was made of stone bricks, and gave a sense of awe at the sight. Upon closer inspection, it had a multitude of small carvings. Each of them depicted a 10 headed beast. The beast bore a crown on each of it's mighty heads, and it rested upon a blanket of stars.

It unsettled Asriel to say the least.

With a sigh, he gathered his courage and dug one of his blackened claws into the stone began his acent. It was one hell of one too. Each of the carvings seemed to tear a small bit of his strength when he came into contact with it. It was infuriating.

Infuriating? Where did that come from?

Asriel srugged off the out of place thought.

'Once we got to the top, what next?' He asked with noticble effort

 _'There should be a window. If you enter there, you can take most of the church with one easy fireball.'_ She answered with a tone of suspicion entering her voice

'Ok, only 10 more feet to go.'

 _'Good job'_

And so, Asriel made it to the small closed window. He hung off of the window sill, just catching his breath. Why did he feel so tired... He knew in this form, this should be easy. Maybe it was those carvings...

'Nah, couldn't be.' He muttered

 _'What? Did you say something?'_

'No...' He trailed off with a furrow of his brow

Asriel, with one claw, dug through the wooden cover for the window and tore it from it's hinges. With his right hand holding the tattered remains of the cover, he threw himself over with his left and entered the top of the Church's main tower.

He glanced around, noticing boxes and crated lined the 8x8x10 room. Itwas rounded at the corners and creaked with each step he took. There were cob webs everywhere and it smelled even worse than it did outside.

 _'This is the upper storage room. They often kept prisoners awaiting *Scoff* Trial here.'_ She said with an eye roll

'Trial?'

 _'If you could call it that. There was no judicial process. Evidence couldn't save you if the church wanted you dead. People_ only _go on trial if the church wants them eliminated.'_ She answered with just nigh a snaral

Asriel grunted in response.

Grunted?

The hell was up with him?

Hell?

He never said that before...

Man, this soul thing was effecting him a lot more than he'd like.

With a frown of concern, he opened the door... ripping it off the hinges is more accurate, but he's going to go with 'opened'. Next he was in a hall like area that had an overview of many jars. Each one had to carry a few hundred gallons to say the least.

How would this help him take out the building?

 _'It's oil... meant for their 'burnings'.'_ Chara stated as if reading his mind

Wait could she read his thoughts?!

Chara is a stinky face.

*No response*

Apparently not.

Getting back on task, he leant himself against the wall as he prepaired the magical power he'd put in this attack. He couldn't charge as he went, so this was the best option. It was quieter, and this would help maintain his cover.

He didn't want to be seen just yet.

As soon as he finished charging, everything went black.

Chara watched in shock.

She'd never expected THIS.

Especially from Asriel.

After he launched that fireball, he changed.

She felt their link diminsih. It was terrifying. Her first clue was the slight chuckle that arose from his throat. With each kill, it just grew. She watched him tear the Village apart peice by peice. It was sickening.

She didn't mind seeing people die. After all... she had grown used to it in her early childhood under the thumb of the church, but this wasn't murder. It wasn't even killing. This was a brutality.

She almost vommitied on his first kill.

He had grabbed the grand preist by the throat, cutting a thin slit in the preist's abdomen as he did so. His cried didn't go unheard. To her or Asriel. Her reaction was shock, then disgust. Asriel's... his was absolutly terrifying...

He savored each cry with a sick sense of glee.

This was only heightened as she watched him dig his hands around the still living preist's jaw. Savoring the wide eyed expression as he began pulling. Slowly, bit by bit through his cries she heard an mushy groan, then... SNAP. His jaw broke in two. The preist passed out after that, and Chara ignored most of Asriel's slaughter after this.

She didn't even have the capacity to stay focused.

And, when she came to her senses, all she saw was a ashy husk of what she had called Kiore.

Smoke blew through the air.

Ash permeated his every pour.

Asriel fell to his knees, his magic extinguishing itself out of exhaustion. He heaved in and out with hoarse breaths. His lungs felt as if they were on fire. He was drenched in sweat and barely holding his lunch down. His arms felt as if they were made of Moldsmal flesh.

Is this what being a hero was like?

He fell silent, as did Chara. He had taken out these evil people, but didn't feel the joy of defeating the villain. He only felt a hollow shock that seemed to even fill the air as surveyed his surroundings. It was terrifying.

' _As- Asriel?'_ Chara asked through their connection

…

…

…

 **Nobody came.**

A/N

Yeah, I'm sure ya'll are all freaking out wondering what the hell is going on.

Well... all I'm going to say is that Power doesn't come for free.

Especially when two souls are liked.

See ya next time

Peace.


	3. Chapter 3

Codex:

Vash Sekal: A traditional dish. It is served with common ingredents such as beef, celery, potatoes,

Atherion: Atherion is the manifestation of something's ability to change its environment. All things contain it to a degree, from grass to trees to rocks. If it can change something, it has atherion.

* * *

Alexander looked at the chaotic mess that was Kiore.

It honestly looked like a war zone...

He glanced around, seeing dismembered bodies, and pooling blood mixed within the wreckage. What drew his attention was a soft crumble that had made its presence known in the edge of his hearing. He, calmly as possible, made his way in the direction of the sound. He passed a few buildings along the way, but nothing out of the ordinary for him.

He had seen much worse before.

When he finally reached the source, he was greeted with the sight of what appeared to be a half dead knight, slashing through what appeared to be a ... Goat Man?

Raising an eyebrow, and an arm... he charged a miniscule portion of his magic and launched it in a devastating beam attack. The attack cut through the knight without resistance. It disintegrated a portion of his upper half, and rendered the knight dead.

Kiore's knights all served the church in some capacity. That was worth enough to kill the man on sight. He hated that blasted church. They learned to never cross his path after declaring his wife a danger to their order.

They'd lost at least 50 men that day.

Alexander smiled at the thought.

Now, what was going on with this goat person? With a quick glance he used his magic to sense the atherion(Uh-Theory-On)* around him. The knight produced little, while the goat produced so little that he could barely sense him.

"Damm..."

What Alex could sense was fading fast.

What could be the culprit? With a second scan, he saw the missing arm.

"That might be the issue." He stated with a frown

With a flick of the wrist, he brought his atherion to reverse the damage done. Without a reference, he used the remaining arm as a template and begun the healing process.

That was as the goat man passed out. He ignored it.

He felt a slight strain as he fed the spell enough energy to complete its task, albeit with time.

He had a few questions, but they could wait.

For now, he should probably get heading back. He didn't want to miss the Vash Sekal(Vah-sh Seh-Kah-l)* that his wife was making.

He picked up the poor... dammit he really needed a name for... it. After a few moments, he decided on the temporary name Pyka(Pie-Kuh). So, he picked up Pyka and brought him to his horse which was only a about 300 feet away. Lucky for him, he'd only be traveling for a few days or until the boy was conscious before he'd be able to ride on his own.

Those three days though would kill his feet though... Alex shrugged at the thought. As much as he was glad for the horse, he did not like just having one.

"Maybe I should invest in a second horse?" He asked himself

His mind grew blank for a moment.

There seemed to be something tingling on the back of his neck.

He was missing something.

He had all of his supplies... so was it something he missed about the town?

He had Pyka, so he... wait...

"Let's do another check to be sure..." He said focusing his senses on Pyka

Is that a second atherion signature?

He put his hand to the goat boy's soul, drawing it out temporarily. This pulled his out, revealing both or should he say all three of the souls, Alex's being a Magenta with specks of light blue surrounded in a black casing, one that Alex guessed to be Pyka's was the pure white one. The thing that actually caught Alex's attention was the glowing red soul that surrounded Pyka's.

It was radiating atherion that was downright shocking in his opinion.

He felt the power on level to change the fabric of reality itself. Which, to say the least was a power he had not laid his eyes on in a good 45 years.

He stopped the horse mid step and pulled Pyka off of the horse.

His curiosity was starting to get to him, so he made an effort to satiate it.

He laid Pyka on the ground and pulled the intwined souls out yet again. He then used his magic to create a space in which his soul and the red one could communicate.

It was a simple matter, and was finished quickly.

Next was to open that space to the red soul.

Once he did that, he drew his soul to the 'meeting area' he had created.

Consciousness left him.

* * *

He opened his eyes to a field of golden flowers. Noticing them to be buttercups, a common flower in this region, he made a note to avoid ingesting them if he came across them in in the natural world. He took one and ground it between his fingers.

"Those are poisonous." Rang a high pitched feminine voice

Alex turned around, and saw a 5 foot girl who seemed to be young for her height... at least at the current advancement that society was at. Either she was naturally tall, or she was fed well.

"I know, they compare to the Marigolds I'm used to." Alex replied

The child stood, weight shifted to her right foot and arms crossed. It was obvious she did not trust him. '

She wasn't as naive as most her age...' Alex noted

"So... why am I here. I don't usually hang out with creepy old men, but when they save my bro... I do give them some slack." She stated casually

"I- I brought you here to ask you what you and your... brother... were even doing at Kiore." Alex answered, caught off guard by her vernacular slightly

"You see a monster attacking humans and you don't know what's going on? You must be dumber than I thought..."

"Unlike you, I have not had the luxury of knowing the history of this region. I would also advise that you watch your tone. While you do control the visage of this place, I control its existence."

"... Fine." She said begrudgingly, "We were capturing human souls to gain enough power to break the barrier surrounding Mt. Ebbot."

"Capturing Souls... Interesting, tell me more. Why would souls help with what I am assuming is a magical barrier." He asked

"The Wizards who did this used their souls to fuel the barrier." She spat out

"Ah, I see..." He muttered, "Equivalent exchange is a bitch..."

"Equivalent Exchange?" She asked, left eyebrow raised

"You weren't meant to hear that..." Alex stated before continuing, "Basically, in order to use magic, you must put forth energy to get a reaction. If you want to launch a fireball, the energy has to come from somewhere. The opposite is true if you want to cancel it out. Souls made the barrier, and souls have no equivelent in a magical sense. No magic can create souls. Period. So, you have to use souls to cancel it out."

She stared blankly at him.

"You sure do love to talk." She deadpanned

"Ah- Er... Yes?" He replied nervously

Damm this girl was sharp...

"You could potentially break the barrier without collecting another soul..." He stated

The girl looked at him in shock.

"WHAT?!" She spat(?) out

Alex rubbed the back of his neck nervously before composing himself and answering:

"You need 7 souls worth of energy correct?"

"How does this relate to breaking the barrier with only one soul?" She asked testily

"You could potentially train your soul to reach such heights."

"This isn't an anime." She deadpanned

"I'd have to agree with you, but what I say remains true. If you two become as strong as 8 human souls, you could potentially break the barrier with your own power... and survive."

She brought her hand up to dismiss his claim but could find no argumant.

"How would me and Azzy get that strong?"

"You seem curious about me yes?"

"Yeah, you know a lot more than any human I've heard of."

"I will offer to train you, and in return you will teach me of your underground. While training with me, you and your brother will be free to snoop as you like under one rule."

"Seems fair, what's the rule?"

"My wife is not apart of this and you may not disturb her routine with any questions. I of course will not answer any question you ask. Thus it will be up to you to piece together who I am."

"Huh, a mystery... I like it."

"Deal?"

"I'll go along with this for now... Deal."

"Here's my first lesson..." Alexander stated

She just raised her eyebrow.

"You share the body with your brother. As such, your soul can control it."

"Wha-" She attempted to ask, but was only met with the blackness of Asriel's subconscious

He had cut the link.

* * *

A/N:

This chapter is about ½ of the size of this story's normal and sorry about that. Haven't really gotten in the mood to write lately so I've been holding off.

Well, i'm sure that Asriel will wake up in the next Chapter… or at most the one after that. As for Chara and her body… that'll come up later.

Welp…

Peace.


	4. Chapter 4

Alexander sat and waited for the girl.

Why he didn't stand some may ask?

His knees hurt like hell. That's why.

After about 10 minutes, he was considering pulling her to the surface but a sudden gasp from Pyka caught his attention. And like a rocket it shot up... right into a tree branch Alexander was using for both of their shade from the sun.

"Ah SHIT!" The Pyka yelled

Alexander frowned. Definitely the girl.

"Morning Sleeping... I don't think i could call ya a beauty."

"Shut up ass face. You look like you lost a fight with a meat grinder." she snapped

"What's up with you? I just basically handed you your life and this is how you thank me?" He chided mockingly

"You tell me when you wake up with a headache that feels like you drank a liquor cabinet and you can talk."

"Not dad enough to try..." Alex countered before continuing, "Don't you think you should get up?"

"Give me a few minutes..." She mumbled

"The faster you get on Shadow over here, the faster I can get to teaching you two."

After the Pyka sat up, Alexander only now noticed the new physical changes that had spawned of her possession of her brother. The normally muscular frame was more lithe and slim. The hips curved out more and the waist tucked in. He had to do a double take when he saw the not small by any means breasts that the Pyka was now equipped with.

"Uh... I think you had more of an impact on his body than I thought..." He trailed off

"What are you on abou- I'm still a girl?" She tugged her clothing with surprise, "I guess Sex among monster is decided by the soul... Huh... interesting."

"You think you'll change back when yo- What is your brother's name?"

"Asriel." She stated offhandedly

"Right, Asriel. You think he'll be a guy once he takes control again?"

"To my knowledge, Monsters' physical presence is tied to their soul... so I'm guessing so."

"You seem pretty cool about this." Alex deadpanned

"Well, yeah. He's a boy in his early teens. If things stayed like this, I'd doubt that we could get him out of the shower..."

"Ehrm, I didn't really need to know that."

"Too bad. I'll give you some brain bleach... better yet... just choke on that image for a little while." She snipped

"Just get on the horse."Alex grumbled out

One hour later

Both Alexander and Chara were mounted and riding, awkwardly albeit, but still making faster time.

"So... How do you know all this stuff about magic?"

"I mostly stumbled upon it." He replied shortly

"Stumbled?"She asked, eyebrow raised

"I was unfamiliar with magic until my early thirties, but found it used against me in combat. I was caught off guard and nearly lost because of such. I don't like being caught off guard so I researched what my opponent used."

"What did they use?"

"Perception and Fortification magic. It would surprise anyone if they caught an arrow in their teeth."

"An arrow? Bullshit! No human can do that with magic!"She denied

"I assure you that by the end of my training, you will be a magnitude stronger than that."

"Like what?"

"I am several times more capable than that as of now. Now stop bothering me with your questions." He chided

"Fine. Then what WOULD interest your old ass?"Chara asked snidely

Alex thought for a few moments before answering:

"I could explain the basics of how magic works and pertains to Atherion... I'm going to have to explain it anyway later. Might as well get it out of the way."

"Just get on with it."

"I'll ignore your tone with me."

"Whatever."

Alexander sighed before beginning, "As I have stated, Atherion is the physical element of change. Magic is an extension of your will on the area around you and the as such the Atherion. Any questions?"

"Seems pretty basic to me."

"Everything needs a balance too. Even change. That is the source of the second aspect of magic. I refer to it as Void. The absence of change."

"Atherion is change, Void is the opposite. I still can't see why you had to study it."

"You'll understand later, but for now here is the basics on how they apply to magic... Atherion can be used in two methods. These methods usually involve doing one of two things. They either add energy to a system or change energy from one type to another. An example of this would fire magic. The user just adds energy to the air around them and it responds accordingly. For the ones who change their environment it becomes tricky. Since these mages are rare due to the lack of direct power. It usually is supplemented by a form of magic to add energy to their usually volatile creations. Due to the nature of their magic, these people are called primary and secondary mages respectively.

"Wait, you said that secondary mages lack direct power. What the hell does that mean?" She asked

Alexander rubbed his jaw trying to think of an explanation, but after a moment of thought he hummed before responding:

"I would be hard to explain so I'll give you an example. I was on a job collecting a bounty on a rogue mage that was terrorizing a small swamp bed village. I ended up tracking him to a small pond before confronting him. He wasn't a powerful mage, but he was a crafty one. With one spell he converted the water into it's base components... both of which are explosive. He got away for a little while longer before I tracked him down again. He broke two of my ribs and dislocated my shoulder with the explosion which made finding him a pain. Morral of the story, do not underestimate a secondary mage."

"He created and explosion from water?!" She exclaimed

"Do you have a basic understanding of chemistry?"

"The fuck is a chemistry?"

"Ugh this is going to take a while..."

"How in the hell do you know all this shit? Do you live in a bookstore or something?" Chara asked

"No, quite on the contrary. I usually spend my time farming, or hunting for me and my wife."

"Ah... Sure..."

"I honestly do!"

"Ain't believing it."

"Fine, we're only a few minutes from my house anyway. I can prove you wrong then."

"And I can finally get off this dumb ass horse?" She asked earning a hostile neigh from Shadowmere

"Shadowmere doesn't like your tone." Alex warned

"It's not like it can understand me." Chara scoffed

"You'll see..." Alex spoke softly as they approached a quaint house with a brownish fence and a set of plants Chara had never seen in her entire life enclosed in a small glass chamber.

The container was of uniform thickness and was made with a cold edge to it. It seemed... 'fake' almost. She'd never felt that about an object. It sort of creeped her out. She just shrugged it off and continued with her so far rather odd day.

Doing such, she glanced to her arm... or Asriel's to be more accurate- the one that was cut off to be specific. Amd to her surprise, it was in much better condition than she thought. She could have sworn that they lost it to that knight...

It was only when she looked closely that she could see the grey dust covering it. This dust wasn't like what she was used to seeing on monster injury. more like when Azzy would get bruises from their play spars in the early days of her place in the underground. It seemed to be feeding energy to her arm rather than dying. So... did they lose their arm, or was she hallucinating?

"-rat. Brat..." She heard distantly

"BRAT!" Came loud a a banshee in her ear

"Ah SHIT!" She screamed as she toppled off the horse and onto the mostly clean grassy yard

"The fuck was that for?!" She asked with a vengeance

"You were zoning out. I wanted to put Shadow in the Stables but you were still on 'em. It got you're attention." He answered plainly

"I may be in a monster's body but I still have these huge ass ears! How the hell does Azzy deal with these?" She said lifting the large floppy ears trademark of the Dreemurr family

"If they're that sensitive, then ya should've heard me the first time."

"Er..."

She didn't have a retort for that one...

"So, aren't you supposed to be teaching me?"She said after a few moments

"I can't get you too ahead, your brother hasn't woken up yet."

"How can you even tell that?"

"Magic." Alexander said, flicking chara on the nose before lazily sauntering off to the front door of the humble house

Chara stood still for a moment before she heard his fingers snap and she was sent flying. It didn't hurt of course, but she figured that wasn't the point.

The point was:

How in the fuck did he do that?!

Alexander opened the door to his and his wife's cottage, making sure to do it as effortlessly as possible. Once the door was closed, he sighed out the strain he had accumulated throughout the day.

While he wasn't nearly as strong as he was in his prime, he was still abnormally strong for those in this world. Man this was going to be a ride.

"Honey?" He called through the home

After a few moments of no response, be stepped further in before calling again.

"Honey?"

"In the generator room!" She called back, coming to his ears as a faint whisper

So, he made his way to the generator room. The house seemed relatively touched, improving his mood greatly. As that only happened when the church decided to stick their noses in.

He approached the door to be met with his wife, wearing full welding gear that covered most of her face. He smiled at the sight.

"So, any news about Kiore?" She asked

"It was destroyed." He replied eyebrows furrowing

"That's good! The Church's influence in this area won't really have much standing after all!"She exclaimed with joy, taking the welding torch in her hand and tossing it to a nearby metal crate

"It wasn't me." He said seriously

"... Er... then who? You're stronger than all those weaksauce mages!" She said patting his back nervously

"I isolated the... rouge variable and I'm afraid because such we might have a guest..."

"Rouge variable? You found the guy who did it?"

"Guy would sum them up only half the way..."

"Is it that magic shit that's making this difficult?"

"Sadly... Yes."

"That's all I need to know to excuse myself." She said with a bit of annoyance lacing her tone

"Is it okay if I introduce you to... Him? Her? Them?" He asked hesitantly

"I'm fine with that. Just make sure they don't get into my food. That stuff'll kill them."

"I know, I know..."

"If you'll follow me, they're outside."

Raising an eye ridge from behind her mask, she followed. Through the simplistic living room and through the door, Alexander opened up the front door. This brought all of her senses to peak workload and briefly overwhelmed her.

'How long was I in there...' She asked herself

After a few seconds, her senses returned to normal. Scanning the yard, she glanced around looking for any glance of this mighty warrior.

She glanced around for a few more seconds before looking down at Alex. Her 6'8'' physique showed her obvious confusion. She was about to speak, her husband interrupted her before she could speak. A rarity to say the least.

"Look." he said pointing to a sturdy Oak 40 or so feet from the house

She looked... and saw- something that she'd never thought she'd ever see. It was from a distance, a Goat man. He had spiky black and white hair as well as black streaks almost climbing on his visible figure. He wore a sleek purple robe with what appeared to be a sizable pauldron that seemed to be made of a dense metal. There appeared to be a second one, but it was twisted and torn. That along with the sleeve that accompanied it. This revealed his fur covered arms that also had the same prominent black markings that led to his claws... which were also black.

Overall.

Quite an intimidating figure.

"It seems the brother has taken control back." Alex stated offhandedly

"Brother?"

"Apparently those monsters the Church labeled you as were trapped in an underground cave system. While normally weak, they can absorb human souls."

"He absorbed his sibling's soul! Why'd you bring him here?!" She asked annoyed

"His sister consented to it to help gather souls to break the barrier trapping Monster Kind in that cave system."

"Souls?" She asked emphasizing the fact that it was plural

Even she knew that Souls were a one way currency. Either it was souls for power of souls for souls. They were nigh unconvertible... whatever that meant...

"Apparently the Church locked them underground and sealed it with 7 souls."

"7?!" She blanched that was an inhumane amount of power for this world, "What on... er... this world would they need 7 for!?"

"I honestly don't know... they were also stated to be some of their strongest mages..."

"Something doesn't add up." She stated

"I'd have to agree."

"That's why you took them in?"

"To a degree." He said simply

She halted in her thoughts for a second, before thinking.

"Wait... you said the brother is in control? Does that mean the sister can as well?"

"Sharp observation... and yes. It also leads to some... strange changes as well."

"As in?"

"When the sister is in control, the body becomes a girl."

"Woah, you're not pulling my leg?" She asked

"Not in any way."

"Shit... thats some serious shit."

"You need to lay off the cussing..."

"Why? They seem old enough to handle it." She gestured to newcomer

"From the signature I got, the monster is around 12 and the human girl is around 14."

"That's a big 12 year old."

"Indeed it would be."

"So, that's the other part of bringing them here?"

"Yep, I've never seen this before and I've got to say... it does seem like it could be interesting."

"So... I'm going to be cooking for 3?"

"Possibly more with the artificial energy spike that child has obtained."

"Why'd that change how much they eat?"

"Their body is not used to the physical change yet, thus making the energy requirements to hold that form to be higher."

"... I guess that makes sense."

"It does."

"Any plans on introducing me, or are we just going to keep staring?"

"Oh yeah! I completely forgot!" Alex stated nervously

A/N:

Well, that's Chapter 3

I would like to say that I will explain the odd descriptions I gave for Alexander's wife in the next chapter. This along with a Codex entry explaining the fundamentals of how magic works in this fic a bit more clearly.

Sorry if I kinda ignored Asriel a bit too. I wanted to give Chara more time in the spotlight.

Now the final change.

The, now shared, body of Asriel turning into a girl when Chara is controlling it:

I came up with this because I plan to have both be separate in a sense for how they fight. Thus giving Asriel's body different stats based on who is in control. This is somewhat feasible due to how monster's stats are often linked to their mental states.

Chara is more of a speedy rusher that deals massive damage.

Asriel is more likely to hang back and counter.

Their stats will reflect this along with their body type.

This is exemplified by the change in sex when one of the two takes over.

Well… That's all I got to say.

Peace.


	5. Chapter 5

"Who are you?" A surprisingly deep and stern voice called out

Alex raised an eyebrow and took a glance at his wife before replying.

"I'm the one who saved you. You and your sister." Alexander said with a slight tone of warning

To Alex's surprise, the Pyka turned around. His form, marred with black tendrils, was well built and covered in a thin coat of fur. He had short semi-spiky hair. Some of the Black markings flowed to his head, resulting in a few black locks among the white. His clothing was still in tatters, but from what the couple could see it was intact enough to maintain some semblance of protection.

"What are your intentions with me and my sister?" the Pyka asked with his eyebrows furrowed

"We wish to aid you on your journey." Alex replied

"What about her?" the Pyka asked gesturing to Alex's wife

"She is my wife. While she may help in aiding you, she has no real bearing on our aid. You seek power, power gained not through the loss of others. We offer a way to get you that power."

"Okay then!" the Pyka cheered

"Er... what?"

Both Alex and his wife were thrown off guard by the sudden shift in tone. He was serious and seemed one move from attacking, then shifted to this? Was this normal Monster behavior?

"Sorry for getting so serious, but I can't let Chara get hurt. So, introductions... er so... Howdy! My name's Asriel!" the py- Asriel explained nervously seeming to find comfort in scratching the back of his neck

"Do you remember anything of Kiore?" Alex tested

"What's a Kiore?" Asriel asked with a slight frown, eyebrows knitting in confusion

Alex's eyes widened for a second before he recovered.

"It's... nothing..." Alex dismissed earning a quiet 'good one hotshot' from his wife

Alex glared at his wife.

* * *

'Hey, do you know what a Kiore is Chara?' Asriel asked

'Er... no I don't Azzy.' Chara responded slowly

'That sucks.'

'It does I guess.'

'So, what do you think of that guy?'

'We should work with him to say the least. He knows a lot about magic and if we can break the barrier by getting stronger, than why not?'

'Wait, he wasn't just messing with me?'

'To my knowledge... no. We should get started on our 'training' or whatever as soon as possible... though it'd be a good idea to fix our shirt.'

'Our? Oh! Right!'

With flex of his magical muscles, he completely repaired his attire. He quickly flicked some flames in his fingers as a test only to find his normally rainbow flames in this form had dulled to a pinkish red.

'Odd.'

"I see you have an affinity for flames." The old man he spoke to earlier stated

"Yeah, they're usually rainbow though..."

"Huh, I'll have to do some research and see if I can't find out why."

"Wow, really? Thanks!" Asriel Beamed

"It is no big deal really. I do have one request before I begin training you though. I need to see you in combat first. As I don't know your power and skill I need to have a short spar to gauge you."

"I'm not too enthusiastic about a fight, but I'm sure I can help ya!" Asriel said positively

"Thank you. Shall we begin?"

"Sure."

With that, Alexander stood still and waited for Asriel to do anything, but to his surprise... the boy didn't do anything. He just stood there in confusion.

"Is there a problem?" Alexander called out

"Er... You going to initiate the FIGHT menu?"

"Fight Menu?"

"Yeah, it's how all monsters fig-" was all Asriel got out before a fist slammed into his face

"That is how you fight. Drop that menu shit because all it does is limit you..."

Asriel got up off of the knee he was driven to and brought his hands up like Chara did when she was fighting weaponless.

"All right then!" Asriel said, attempting to launch a fearsome right hook

It was batted away with a simple flick of Alexander's wrist before a lightning charged fist met his stomach. It exploded shaving off a good 8% of his health. He was already down to 86% from the two blows. Who was this guy? With a flick of his arm, he summoned several fireballs. Most missed but one was caught with a leather glove.

"What? Who would voluntarily catch a fireball?!" Asriel asked in shock

He watched as it was snuffed in the old man's palm. This revealed a shiny metal structure underneath. Alexander proceeded to pull off the glove which revealed a metal hand. Wait, hands can be made of metal? No wonder his father never wanted to fight the humans... If they could do this, then what was stopping them from wiping monsters out?

"I liked that glove too..."Alex muttered at a volume barely audible to Asriel

"Uhh... is your arm ok?" Asriel asked

"It's fine. I lost it long before I learned about magic. Now... Lets get back to our fight."

Alexander proceeded to launch several pinkish red balls that seemed to hover around the battlefield. Asriel ignored them and continued his fight with an attempt to overwhelm his opponent with sheer power. He should be stronger, after all, than an old man.

This was met with failure though.

His quick strikes were met with an impenetrable defense. Asriel backed away, gasping for breath while his new mentor stood tall and nearly unphased.

*Snap*

All the pinkish balls raced towards Asriel with a speed unmatched to anything he'd seen with the exception of his father.

Asriel released as much power as he could to block as many of the spheres as possible. It worked, but left him further winded. He could barely stand. His arms felt like lead, and his feet barely supported him. The black lined on his body pulsed under his skin. Is this what it was like to have blood?

"That's enough. I've gotten a good gauge on you. I'd say 40 Reis. maybe 44 if you're lucky."

"Reis?" Asriel gasped out plopping on the ground

"How much power you currently have. The average human has around 25-30 Reis."

"So I'm slightly stronger than a human?"

"Not slightly. More like, you could curb stomp most of them."

"What would I need to break the Barrier?"

"At least 190 Reis... if you want to die doing it that is. 240 Reis if you want to live to tell the tale.

"How strong are you and your wife?"

"I rank around 150 Reis in this state. My wife is around 37 Reis at the moment."

"What do you mean in this state?"

"I could pull a few million in my youth without much effort."

Asriel spat out "A MILLION?"

"Yeah, but it was kinda killing me. Had to tone down the power, or my soul wouldn't really make it past 35."

"What was it then after... that?"

"It was a few thousand in my youth after the powerdown."

"If you were so strong, then it couldn't be too hard to get strong enough to break the barrier!" Asriel cheered

"It'll depend if you're motivated enough."

"I'm definitely motivated!"

"Well, I do have something in mind." Alex chuckled out "Just grab a cloak. Monsters aren't looked too kindly upon here on the surface."

* * *

After the announced death of Chara Dreemurr and the disappearance of Asriel Dreemurr, the Underground was in a roar. Monsterkind wasn't too happy when their ears to the throne were so suddenly taken from them.

In an attempt to keep peace, Asgore had declared war on Humankind. He hoped that the fires in their hearts would burn out. But it did not. Many had come to the king seeking answers. All were rejected as the usually jolly king sunk into despair.

"Sans, here to bring another report on Dr. Gaster's work?" Asgore asked the grinning skeleton

"there hasn't been much progress. gaz needs some erm... material to work with."

"You mean humans?" The King asked somberly, eyes shadowed

"yeah, but ya don't need to worry 'bout that."

"Of course I do. I am the strongest monster, and as King, it is my duty to preserve this kingdom. I would stand the best chance against a human. Thus this fall on my shoulders."

"i get what you're meaning, but and i guess that's true. just know though, i will judge those who arrive... and if i find them unsatisfactory to face you..." Sans dragged one of his boney fingers across the vertebrae above his collar

"I see... Just be a merciful judge. I request this at least."

"you got it."

In a blink, Sans was gone.

* * *

"So, where are we heading?" Asriel asked to his new mentor

"It's a small town called Ashire. I need to pick up some supplies as well as meet with a... beneficiary. I trust you not to but in?"

"I guess, but I just hope nothing goes wrong." Asriel stated nicely with a frown

"You have questions, ask and I may answer." Alex stated in a firm tone

"What's a beneficiary?" Asriel asked

"..."

"..."

"You're serious?" His mentor asked

"I'm sorry I don't know. I was supposed to be turning 13 in a few weeks." Asriel pouted

"You're 12? I didn't expect that I'd be right. Isn't it normal to look like this for a monster?"

"Well, I don't think so. It only happened when I absorbed Chara's soul."

"Your body had to adapt to the increased power output. It can happen with some races..." Alex explained

"So, i'm going to be like this forever?" Asriel asked, worried

"Not until you release that soul or your control on your power can limit the strain on your body."

"I've only seen it a few times and usually it was intentional. It isn't used too often because it often comes with massive stamina drain and a sharp drop in speed."

"I'd still be able to destroy the barrier though?"

"Theoretically... yes."

"The highest buff I've seen from it was... oh, around a 4x boost. Any further destroys the body shortly after."

"120 Reis... I'm already that close..."

"Ha, don't get ahead of yourself kid. It takes a lot of practice to achieve and maintain long enough to do anything akin to what you're thinking... Watch." Alex got off of Shadow and walked over to a bank and motioned for Asriel to join him

Asriel followed until they were a good 30 feet from their horses.

"Now, because of my experience and skill I can achieve the full 4x without much strain, but watch." Alex said before gritting his teeth, crossing his arms and widening his stance, "You power up as if you are going to launch an attack, but instead of releasing this energy, you internalize it. You hold in EVERY bit you can."

Asriel watched in amazement as Alex's slender frame began to develop into something akin to Aaron... and kept going. He watched as a burst of electricity stormed around his mentor. It struck trees and plants alike. It even glanced towards him, forcing him to deflect it a few times with his own rainbow lightning.

He gasped in awe as his mentors frame grew to an astonishing 9 feet. This put him a full 14 inches above Asriel. This was from a measly close to 6 foot. The POWER though. It made his jaw drop. When the transformation ceased, Asriel could actually FEEL the power radiating off of Alexander. It was many times stronger than him... The power almost made him choke.

"Fight me. Let me show you the downsides of this form."

"That'd be suicide!"

"Trust me." his mentor said an octave lower in tone than before the transformation

"... Fine."

Immediately, Alex launched a series of attacks that while powerful were moving in slow motion to Asriel. He was shocked at how easy it was to deal with him now. The punches were missing by an inch or two, but that was on purpose. His father was always incredibly big on not wasting energy in a fight.

Once comfortable in the pace of things he started wearing his mentor down. It was hit by hit but he was making progress. It became incredibly easy to keep up. And as such Alex backed away. He released the form and nearly immediately returned to his original size.

"You now know why it should never be used in combat?"

"Yeah, you kicked my butt before and now I could potentially beat you."

"It gives massive power, but the increase is proportional to the speed loss."

"How will it help me break the Barrier then?"

"The Barrier doesn't move does it?"

"... Oh." Asriel said, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck

"We've got to reach my beneficiary though. I could be running a little late from that demonstration."

* * *

 _ **In Ashire**_

Asriel glanced through his cloak. These people seemed to be paying him no mind. It was odd considering he was 2 feet taller than anybody else. He looked down at his gloved hands in slight nervousness. Humans generally didn't like monsters, so he wore this cloak.

"Why aren't people staring at me? I've got to be abnormal to them just from the height." Asriel asked Alex

"This land is frequented by Giants. They tend to be of your stature. They often trade their furs and the tusks of larger animals."

"Wait, Giants? How strong are they?"

"They tend to follow around 70 Rikis."

"Am I that behind?"

"I once met a warrior that was born at 1/10 the strength of his peers."

"Did he ever become strong?"

"Hah, did he? He trained until he grew to challenge the Gods."

"How, the Gods are said to be infinite?"

"In his land, there was no limit. Last I met him, he ranked several quadrillion Rikis."

"H-How. There's no way a human could be that strong."

"He wasn't human."

"Was he a monster?"

"No, but that isn't for me to reveal."

"Oh, sorry." Asriel said sadly before tacking on, "Then why did you tell me about him?"

"To prove the point that initial strength means little. Only your dedication to strengthen."

Asriel was about to respond but Alex stopped, looking up at a small mansion held two stories. It was dark and held an aura of sadness that Asriel had never seen before. It felt as if it was wrong to even exist here.

"W-were heading in there?"

"Yes, my beneficiary is in need of a service I provide her. She doesn't know the intricacies of Atherion and has an issue involving her own.

"What kind of issues?" Asriel asked, curious

"You'll see."

They entered and were met with a cold purple light. It lit everything fine but it also added to the eerie atmosphere. Asriel gulped as he heard a single spoken word. It was a melodical sickeningly sweet tune that bounced in his floppy ears. He could hear faint music behind it.

"Alexander."

"Braith." He responded in a dead serious tone

"You have what I require?"

"Of course, as do you I hope?"

"Yes..."

The room remained silent for what seemed like hours. In those dreadful moments Asriel tried to make out the disjointed tune that played throughout the house just beyond his hearing.

"Then why didn't you say so! I'm glad to see you!"

A woman with raven black hair emerged from the shadows. She wore a leather suit that clung to her figure and accentuated her hips. It provided moderate protection to her chest being at least 2 inches thick of hardened leather on those areas. Asriel was shocked to see her just about glowing purple eyes. It looked unnatural an errie.

"I'm glad to see you too. Though you didn't have to release your aura like that. You know it unsettles living beings.

"What can I say, gotta put the new guy through the ropes. By the way, never thought you'd team up with a Giant." She said staring Asriel up and down

"He's not a giant. He's a monster."

"That's mean, you don't call me a monster..." She pouted

"Well, that isn't what your race is isn't it... Revenant?"

"Wait, she's a revenant?" Asriel finally spoke up, uncovering his hood

"You know of revenant?" Alex asked

"Yeah, I know a fellow monster Revenant called Sans. He's a skeleton."

"Well, I'm not a monster revenant. I'm a human one." Braith stated

"You don't look like a skeleton to me."

"Not all revenant look like that. I came back only a few minutes after I died so I don't look to bad. Got to keep most of my biological functions too. Though I didn't get eating... So sad."

"So, you look like you're alive but you're dead?"

"Yep, I can't eat, I only have to sleep when I want to, don't bleed and I can heal just about any wound."

"That's amazing! Sans only has one Hp, and I thought it was just a revenant thing!"

"Hp?"

"Apparently monsters naturally use a menu of sorts when fighting. Turns a fight into a turn based RPG. Knocked that outta him real quick." Alex clarified

"So, about this Sans guy..." Braith started

* * *

"SANS! YOU'RE HOME!" A high pitched nasally voice echoed throughout the snowdin home

"yep, just got back from a job paps."

"DID YOU JUST TAKE BREAKS THROUGHOUT IT?"

"you know me so well."He lied out

Papyrus was to never know his dealings. It was one of the few things Sans was proud of. It broke him on the inside to hide it sure, but every little thing he did to protect his bro was a good thing. Sans sighed out through is teeth, producing a small wisp of steam. It was a side effect of being a skeleton. It also looked cool as hell and helped with a bit of intimidation here and there. With the old head of the royal guard retiring a few months ago, he had been forced to use his status as judge a few more times than he's like. Being a revenant isn't easy.

Thankfully his bro hadn't died yet. That eye was deadly, but it came at a cost. He always tried to forget the day he gained his. He lightly growled.

"now is NOT the time to remember that..." He forcefully muttered to himself

"DID YOU SAY SOMETHING SANS?"

"just thinking about how great you are..." He nervously chuckled out

"I AM GREAT... YOUR REACTION IS REASONABLE IN SUCH CIRCUMSTANCES..." he said striking a heroic pose, scarf somehow blowing in the wind while inside

"sure thing bro. I'm heading out, gotta head to my next job."

"AND MORE BRAKES..." His brother clarified

"more work equals more breaks. so hey."

* * *

"Us revenant grow stronger in response to our desires. Usually in most cases we are reborn to get revenge on another. My revenge died before I came back, so I get to keep going on. I still need a goal though, or I could return back to the grave. Maybe this Sans is getting weaker because he doesn't have a goal."

"Huh, he always was lazy. Chara never liked him for that. He gave her a good lashing though after she threatened to have Papyrus locked up."

"So, his goal is keeping this Papyrus guy safe? Is he safe normally?"

"Yeah, Sans is super protective."

"If he is unneeded, then it would make sense that his power is low. I'd be wary though. If he gets pissed..." She trailed off

"So, are you going to let me give you the package or are you going to talk our heads off?" Alex asked

"Oh right!"

 _ **And so, the transaction continues...**_

* * *

 ** _A/N:_**

So, that's the next installment.

Let me know what ya'll think of Braith. She'll be playing a large part in the next while. I also wanted to include that the next chapter is going to involve Asriel's first trial. He is going to delve deep within himself and remember what has been lost.

As for the transformation thing, I mostly took the idea from DBZ, but I'm planning on using it in a few interesting ways.

I would also like to apologize for the horrible formatting and I hope this properly fixes it.

BUT NOW, I PRESENT THE CODEX!

Atherion: The element of change. Do not mistake this with magic per say, but as with all things... atherion is involved. Magic is the bridge between normal reality and Atherion. If I were to provide an analogy, Atherion is behind series of doors. Magic is the key and the door is normal reality. Magic bridges the gap and allows you to bypass normal reality and use the element of change in a specific way and only one way. Each key or each type of magic allows the user to essentially use atherion for different things.

Void: The absence of atherion, it makes things stagnant and is often associated with things like Ice and spells that stop time. Too much void turns someone into a soulless. Using the key analogy, Void is behind Atherion. Thus, you bypass the Keys and are able to use Atherion directly. This can be done without retaining the full state of being soulless, but is difficult to achieve.

Revenant eye: A revenant's eyes are important. Upon awakening, they are able to track their revengee no matter distance or trail complexity. This eye also grants a massive power boost to their abilities when active. Mainly ATK and SPD. They also Grant bonus abilities based on the their soul's composition before they died. The list goes as such:

Red: Will ignore damage dealt for a short while and removes debuffs only once.

Blue: Will become immune to all negative effects while active (poison, weakness etc.)

Orange: Increases damage, and makes user invulnerable to fear.

Yellow: Grants massive damage and health boost, but drains health. Cannot drain below 1 HP. In extreme cases, the enemy target takes additional damage based on what the user sees as wrong within their previous acts.

Purple: Can be damaged but cannot be killed until effect wears off. Lasts longer than Determination

Green: Becomes more Charismatic and enemies deal less damage.

Cyan: Gains the ability to predict attacks before they strike.

Pink: Improves multitasking allowing more complex actions to be performs. Increases endurance

White: Gains all effects, but only at 11.11111% capacity each.

Multicolor: Rare but allows full use of multiple effects, the speed in which the user switches indicates the overall buff strength. Fast=Both buffs at max capacity. Slow= only one buff at a time but each buff is at max capacity until the switch takes place. Slow users are un buffed during the switch

Specials: Specials are unique per person and reflect their personality.

Current Known Specials:

Murderous Spree: Triples damage and Doubles speed if enemy is hurt

Royal Aura: 3x Defense and +50% defense for all allies

Omnitool: Nearly unlimited uses, but weak bonuses

Revenant Eye: Grants buffs based on color (Only available to revenant)

(?): Unknown

STATS:

Asriel (Chara Controlled):

Rikis: 47 (From fights with Alex)

HP: 1 Million

DEF: 145

ATK: 210

SPD: 145

MAG: 80

MTEQ: 100

SPEC: Murderous Spree

Asriel:

Rikis: 46

HP: 1.2 Million

DEF: 200

ATK: 150

SPD: 130

MAG: 200

MTEQ: 45

SPEC: Royal Aura

Alexander:

Rikis: 150

HP: 5.5 Million

DEF: 240

ATK: 180

SPD: 245

MAG: 500

MTEQ: 300

SPEC: (?)

Telena (Alexander's Wife):

Rikis: 37

HP: 500,000

DEF: 40

ATK: 110

SPD: 160

MAG: 0

MTEQ: 100

SPEC: Omnitool

Braith:

Rikis: 120 (With eye active)

HP: (?) (Has no finite pool of health)

DEF: 50 (Can't go beyond normal human capabilities)

ATK: 600 (With eye active)

SPD: 300 (With eye active)

MAG: -99999999 (Unable to use magic)

MTEQ: 400

SPEC: Revenant Eye: Purple

Rikis: Average 30

Health Points(HP): Average 300,000

Defense(DEF): Average 35

Attack(ATK): Average 60

Speed(SPD): Average 70

Magical Skill(MAG): Average 0

Melee Technique(MTEQ): Average 10

Specials (SPEC): Average None


End file.
